From yesterday's decision by Judge Anthony Trenga (E.D. Va.) in Fseisi v. O'Keefe Media Group:
The Complaint alleges the following:
Defendant James O'Keefe is a conservative political activist whose organization, Defendant O'Keefe Media Group ("OMG"), frequently engages in "sting" operations in which its agents use false identities to arrange meetings with individuals affiliated with government, mainstream media, or progressive organizations, and surreptitiously record them with the goal of publishing the subject's potentially unflattering or controversial statements so as to tarnish the reputations of the subject or their affiliated institution or, in OMG's words, to "expos[e] corruption." Plaintiff, a top secret-cleared information systems security consultant to government agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the Office of Director of National Intelligence, fell prey to one such operation in April 2024, during what he thought were two romantic dates with "Jane Doe," who unbeknownst to Plaintiff, was an OMG employee.
Jane Doe contacted Plaintiff via the Bumble dating app and, during both dates, represented herself as a liberal and pressed him for details on his work, including whether certain government agencies may have surveilled or withheld information from then-former President Donald Trump. In response to this questioning, Plaintiff stated, inter alia, that while "anything was possible" and he could not give Jane Doe a straight answer, he "believed" some information was withheld, and that NSA or CIA "could have" surveilled Trump. {The videos posted by OMG, which Defendants link to in their Motion and which the Court may consider as intrinsic to the Complaint, contain statements that are much more explicit than those alleged in the Complaint (and do not appear to be cut or deceptively edited).}
On the second date, Plaintiff noticed what he thought was a recording device in Jane Doe's bag (which she had kept on the table during both dates) and asked her whether he was being recorded. In response, she denied that, but then repeatedly refused to allow him to inspect her bag and shortly left the restaurant. Despite this experience, Fseisi later agreed to meet Jane Doe again in the District of Columbia, where he was instead confronted by O'Keefe and a cameraman.
In early May, 2024, OMG made multiple posts on its website and social media accounts which included video footage from the first and second dates and the O'Keefe confrontation that included Plaintiff's statements to Jane Doe that "we kept information from him [Trump]" (and that the "we" specifically included past CIA Directors Gina Haspel, Mike Pompeo and members of their executive staffs), and showed him responding affirmatively to Jane Doe's question of whether "the intel community used FISA [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] to spy on Trump and his team." The posts also included O'Keefe's commentary on Plaintiff's statements and other topics related to purported intelligence community activity.
Plaintiff alleges that he suffered various professional repercussions from these publications, chiefly that one or more federal agencies placed a "flag" on his security clearance on an unspecified date, and that he has been rejected from multiple jobs and/or projects on clearance-related grounds, resulting in eight months of unemployment. Plaintiff also alleges, inter alia, "severe emotional distress … [f]ear and terror resulting from death threats directed towards him … [and] damage to his personal and professional reputation."
